First Nations Version Psalms and Proverbs, Terry M. Wildman, lead translator with First Nations Version Translation Council. InterVarsity Press (ISBN: 9781514007273) 2025.
Summary: A true translation using idioms of the indigenous peoples of North America.
The year 2021 marked the release of a different kind of Bible translation of the New Testament. In English, the translators used the idioms of First Nations Peoples of North America to offer a meaningful translation for these indigenous people. Now, those who translated the First Nations Version of the New Testament, have published a translation of the Psalms and Proverbs. They use many of the conventions introduced in the New Testament translation, including rendering the meaning of biblical names followed by the original name in parentheses. And cultural idioms significant to indigenous peoples of North America, are used in place of more familiar references. This rendering of Psalm 1:1-2 will give you a sense of this as well as introduce the FNV rendering of YHWH, usually translated in English translations as LORD.
Harmony and well-being rest on those who do not walk the path of the bad-hearted, the ones who do notstand with those who stir up disharmony, those who will not sit in a circle where others are spoken of with scorn and disrespect.
Instead, they take joy in Grandfather’s clear instructions. As the sun and the moon circle the sky, they think deeply about his ways.
The translators chose Grandfather to translate YHWH. This is the First Nations term for the Great Spirit used by many tribal nations. In the glossary, they offer an extended explanation of this choice, noting the unsuitability of LORD in the cultural experience of Native Americans for whom no cultural analogue for “Lord” exists. Also, they note the place of honor grandfathers enjoy in indigenous cultures.
Nevertheless, I have to admit I struggled with the term, while realizing that I am a cultural outsider. I do miss the assertion of God’s self-existence in YHWH, that all else derives its existence from YHWH. But I don’t have a better translation suggestion.
That aside, just as I found the New Testament rendering both fresh and accurate, so it was here. And for the Psalms, this is a freshness of reverent worship. I love the substitution of ‘tender sweetgrass” for “green pastures” in Psalm 23.
Then turning to Proverbs, I noted that Lady Wisdom is “Grandmother Wisdom..” She also has a sister, Understanding, and nieces Good Sense and Clear Thinking. This also resonates well with the matriarchal cultures of First Nations peoples.
Proverbs 3:5-6 is perhaps among the most familiar. Here is the FNV rendering:
From the strength of your heart, put all your trust in Grandfather, and do not hold yourself up with weak human thinking. As you walk the road of life, make every step a prayer. Grandfather will then make your eyes straight and your paths safe.
In conclusion, the fresh rendering of individual Proverbs made me linger over them, listening to their wisdom afresh. While Euro-Americans will gain fresh insights into Psalms and Proverbs, the “sacred songs” and “wise sayings” will hopefully deeply nourish the hearts of indigenous people as they seek to walk the harmony way
God Chose Me!, Lexa Hale, illustrated by Dana Regan. Paraclete Press (ISBN: 9781640609778) 2026
Summary: For children 0-3, affirming that they are God’s loving, good creation just the way they are and that their worth is in God.
Who of us hasn’t wondered at some point why we are the way we are? And who of us hasn’t wondered what God thinks of us, the way we are? Perhaps this accounts for the impact of Fred Rogers simple words, repeated on each show:
“You’ve made this day a special day, by just your being you. There’s no person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are.” -Fred Rogers
That is the message of this new board book for children, ages 0-3, written by Lexa Hale and illustrated by Dana Regan. Hale affirms that God chose every aspect of who we are. For example, our gender, the color of our eyes, the shape of our nose, and whether our hair is curly or straight. Then God knows all our moods and even the times when we don’t like how we’re made. He also knows how we compare ourselves to others. And knowing all this, God loves us. “So, I’ll love who I am with all of my might!”
The colorfully illustrated book includes both boys and girls, and children of representing various ethnicities. There is also a boy wearing glasses (that’s me!) and a girl in a wheelchair. So, I’ll admit it. I struggled with self image because of those glasses! Here is a sample from the book:
Sample page from God Chose Me, Lexa Hale, illustrated by Dana Regan from publisher’s website
Hale uses a simple and memorable rhyme structure. This is one of those books to read with a child cuddled in one’s arm. I can imagine a child even saying these things with a parent as they read and making these truths their own. And who of us doesn’t need reminders that God chose, made, and loves us just the way we are?
Finally, this is the perfect gift for a baby shower, a baptism, or baby’s first Christmas or Easter. Then, if you have grandchildren, you may want a copy for when they come to visit. So, this is a book you might buy in quantity!
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
The Murderbot Diaries Vol. 1 (Diaries Number 1 and 2), Martha Wells. Tordotcom (ISBN: 9781250389824) 2025 (contains works published in 2017 and 2018)
Summary: The first two novellas in the Murderbot series, All Systems Red and Artificial Condition.
Thanks to my son, I’ve discovered the world of Murderbot. For those not acquainted with this series, it is set in some distant future where space travel between star systems is routine. They’ve figured out how to travel through wormholes reliably. In addition to humans and augmented humans, various “bots” are used including sentient bots. Among these are CombatUnits, ComfortUnits, and SecUnits, providing military, sex, and security. Murderbot is a SecUnit with a difference. After a “malfunction” where he allegedly murdered 57 people it is refurbished by Corporation Rim. However, Murderbot figured out how to hack its Governor Module, by which it is controlled by its owners. It is autonomous, but has concealed this.
This edition combines the first two “Diaries,” “All Systems Red” and “Artificial Condition,” released in conjunction with the Apple TV+ streaming adaptation. I will summarize each of the Diaries separately with some concluding comments.
All Systems Red
Murderbot is under contract for a survey by a group of Preservation scientists, an independent planetary settlement effort, operating outside Corporate Rim, the corporate interest controlling much space travel and settlement. The team is surveying a planet for settlement. Murderbot provides security for a satellite team, working in conjunction with the larger DeltFall station. Sounds like a routine gig until a creature under a crater attacks a scientist, who Murderbot rescues, revealing some of its impressive armaments, as well as its ability to sustain severe damage and survive.
This is only the start. A series of glitches, malfunctions, and data gaps raise questions about possible sabotage. But who is doing it? Then they discover they cannot raise DeltFall on their coms. Most of the team goes to investigate. However, DeltFall has been wiped out, and two of the surviving SecUnits turn on them, along with two others of unknown origin, nearly succeed in inserting a Combat module on Murderbot before the team destroys them. Murderbot is seriously damaged, but while being regenerated, the scientists discover its hacked governor and past history. Yet they decide to trust it, given how well it has protected them.
They conclude they are not alone and that an enemy has sabotaged their systems. They prepare for an attack. Before fleeing the station, they learn that GrayCris, a rival corporation that wants the planet, is offering to negotiate their survival. But they assess this a trap. I’ll leave you to discover how they escape if you’ve not read the series (you already know Murderbot lives on!).
Artificial Condition
Grateful for its protection, Dr. Mensah, the lead Preservation scientist buys Murderbot’s contract and grants it freedom, consistent with Preservation values. But Murderbot promptly leaves and takes a series of transports to get back to the planet where he allegedly killed all those people.
Murderbot meets its match on the last, robot piloted transport. ART figures out who Murderbot is, putting Murderbot on defense until ART proves it is an ally. ART even helps Murderbot modify itself, disguising it as an augmented human. ART helps find a way to return to the Ganaka mines, where the murders occurred. Three scientists formerly employed with Tlacey Excavations, want to get their research back from Tlacey.
From the get-go, it’s clear Tlacey will have none of it. Their transport is sabotagd, and only ART’s intervention saves them. They manage to meet Tlacey only to escape another assassination attempt through Murderbot’s efforts. On a break, he returns to the Ganaka mines and learns the truth. Murderbot and the other SecUnits did kill, but as the result of a sabotage by a rival company. Murderbot didn’t just turn into a killer.
But will Murderbot succeed in getting his clients’ research and get them out alive? and what will Murderbot do with what it learned at Ganaka?
Concluding Comments
What most fascinates me in these novels is the exploration of sentient robots. Equally, the subordination of “bots” to a corporation, making them slaves repeats this old human sin of humans subjugating others. The fact that Murderbot hacks its governor to attain autonomy emphasizes its sentience, and essential drive to exercise its will in freedom. Likewise, the fact that these are Murderbot’s diaries, its interior “thoughts,” underscores this very human quality of being able to talk to oneself, a self-consciousness. While not exactly having feelings, it has a sense of loyalty to agreements, that becomes something more when others treat it with trust and dignity. There is also this drive for knowing the truth about oneself.
However, what does one do in one’s free or down time? For Murderbot, it is streaming massive amounts of videos. I’d be visiting the libraries of the world, reading as much of great works as possible with my augmented capacities. Some might argue these are equivalent. But I would propose that reading activates imagination, in which we create the video, as it were, ourselves. I wonder if Murderbot is capable of that?
One of the major stories this week was the Washington Post’s decision to lay off three hundred of its staff, gutting international coverage, sports coverage, and shutting down Book World, its coverage of books.
Now many readers loved Book World, and I suspect many cancelled their Post subscriptions for this reason alone. And it is sad to lose a major source of book coverage in the U.S. Capitol. It reflects to me what is, and is not, valued, in this city.
It follows a trend in many other smaller papers, struggling to keep afloat in a changing media environment. However, this doesn’t convince me we are seeing the end of book coverage. Instead, I think book coverage is shifting to different platforms. For one thing, you can bet some of those Post reviewers will be setting up Substack newsletters, or teaming up with outfits like The Metropolitan Review. There is vibrant book coverage in these newsletters, many of which I’ve re-posted here. Of course, there are also dedicated Bookstagrammers, BookTokkers, and of course, us old-fashioned bloggers.
It might mean re-learning some old habits. I’ve found some publishers still think they get their best exposure in print publications and don’t give online reviewers the time of day. Yet, I bet, in almost every publishing genre, there are online platforms far-outstripping print in views, and purchases of books.
I also post several articles that suggest the reports of reading’s death, while concerning, may be greatly exaggerated. So, without further ado…
A psychologist who studies narratives of decline argues, with a lot of data to back him up, that reading is not dying in “Text Is (Still) King.“
A Case Western Reserve English professor describes what he learned when he resumed assigning students whole books to read in “Stop Meeting Students Where They Are.”
Thomas E. Miles describes in “A Mosaic” the transformative experience of reading in prison when he enrolled in the Bennington College Prison Education Initiative.
Finally, February is Black history Month. “Celebrating Black History Month” offers a wealth of readings from the editors at JSTOR Daily.
Quote of the Week
American novelist Robert Coover was born February 4, 1932. He said something that both makes sense and I’ve been arguing in my head:
“Language is the square hole we keep trying to jam the round peg of life into. It’s the most insane thing we do.”
To be sure, every time I sit down to write, I bang up against the limits of words to say what I want to say. But while language may be insane, it is one of the things that makes us human. And when God came to Moses on Sinai, he didn’t give him ten experiences or pictures, but rather wrote ten commands on tablets.
Miscellaneous Musings
I’m trying to get through three Lenten devotionals to review before Lent. One is Christ in our Midst (Paraclete) which couples readings with Gregorian chant accessible online. A second is an expanded edition of Bread and Wine from the good folks at Plough. It includes 90 readings covering the period from Ash Wednesday to Pentecost. Finally, Meeting God in John: Inspiration and Encouragement from the Fourth Gospel (Baker) by David F. Ford is a Lenten study focused in John’s gospel.
I finished Robert McFarlane’s Is a River Alive? What a beautifully written book! I’ve decided to follow it withRichard Power’s The Overstory, a work of fiction about forests that I’ve not read.
Mort (Discworld, Number 4, Death, Number 1), Terry Pratchett. Harper Paperbacks (ISBN: 9780063393233) 2025 (first published in 1987)
Summary: Mort is apprenticed to Death, who collects dying souls. Mort messes up the timeline when he saves a princess, killing her assassin.
In Discworld, you do not want to meet Death. As you may recall from earlier installments, Rincewind spent much of his time eluding Death. Because Death comes to collect souls of people when they die and to set them onto their destiny in the afterworld. He has bit parts in previous Discworlds. This is his first as a significant character, and this is the first of several of the Death series within Discworld.
But the title character is really the main character here, even if he must constantly remind people of his name. Mort is the teenage son of a farmer who doesn’t want to farm. So, his father takes him to town on the day various tradesmen choose apprentices. But no one wants him. That is, no one wants him except for Death, who comes just shy of closing. The irony, if you know any French, is that mort is the French word for death.
He goes to the home of Death. Two others live there. Ysabell is Death’s daughter by adoption. The other is Death’s ancient manservant, Albert. Ysabell takes a decided disliking to Mort, despite Death’s efforts to promote their companionship
Part of his apprenticeship is to accompany Death to collect souls. He quickly learns he is not to meddle with the fatal destinies of people when he attempts to prevent the assassination of the king of Sto Lat. He learns that theirs is not to decide the time of death or prevent it, but to assist the deceased. But he does not learn this well-enough, and Death, tired of the work and wanting a change, quickly turns over collecting duties to Mort.
One of those he is assigned to collect is the daughter of the assassinated king. A rival Duke is going to kill her. Instead of allowing Princess Keli’s death, he kills the Duke. But he doesn’t reckon with altered timelines. People act as if the Princess is dead, even when she tries to interact with them. She hires the wizard Igneous Cutwell, who can see her, to promote her existence and arrange her coronation. She wants to live and wants to be Queen.
But there is another problem. The real timeline is swallowing up the alternate one. Cutwell can’t stop it but is trying to get her crowned, even if briefly. Meanwhile Mort, as he seeks a solution discovers there may be more to Albert than meets the eye. And he and Ysabell team up. Meanwhile, Death is AWOL, enjoying life as a short order cook.
If you’ve not read this, I will leave it to you to discover how this all works out, as well as if anyone learns to remember Mort’s name. What is most interesting to me is that by and large, the figure of the Grim Reaper is a character without character. Pratchett gives him one, and even gives him a midlife crisis! And since Mort is such an interesting character, I hope he turns up again!
Under Her Wings, Jennifer Houston McNeel. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802885081) 2025.
Summary: A comprehensive study of the mothers mentioned in the New Testament as well as references to motherhood.
What is one topic in biblical studies for which there is significant material but little scholarship? Jennifer Houston McNeel contends that mothers and motherhood is one of those. Some has to do with the space mothers are given in male-written and dominated texts. And then there is the historic dominance of men in preaching and scholarship. This book is an important step in redressing this imbalance. McNeel undertakes a comprehensive study of the mothers who appear in the pages of the New Testament as well as the references, often metaphorical, to motherhood.
She begins by setting the context of mothers in the Old Testament and in Jewish and Greco-Roman culture. The genealogies of scripture emphasize families and every named person, mostly men, had a mother! But the society was patriarchal, though free women had opportunities to manage their households. At the same time, childbirth was perilous, and the purview of midwives and female family and friends. While male metaphors dominate God talk, female images also are used.
Then McNeel turns to the birth narratives, beginning with the four unusual mothers who appear in Matthew’s genealogy. None are conventional. Nor is Mary in Matthew and McNeel likens Joseph to Uriah, the righteous Hittite. He marries her despite the scandal. In Matthew, she is silent. But this is hardly the case in Luke. She engages Gabriel and gives assent, if not consent (McNeel explores the ambiguities in her submission to God’s will). McNeel not only explores the encounter between Mary and Elizabeth but has a fascinating section on Mary as Jesus’ teacher. But how does one mother a grown-up Messiah? McNeel’s next chapter considers John’s portrayal of their relationship at the wedding at Cana and at the cross.
Having considered Mary’s motherhood, the next chapters turn to other mothers in the gospels. First McNeel looks at the accounts of four mothers in crisis: Simon’s mother-in-law, the mother of Jairus daughter, the Syro-Phoenician woman, and the widow at Nain. The one thing in common beyond the urgency of their crises was that none of them are named. These were good mothers, but not all mothers are good. McNeel treats the cases of three mothers which range from ambiguous to evil: the mother of the man born blind who protects her own interests, the mother of James and John, who promotes the interests of her sons (and perhaps herself), and Herodias who exposes her daughter to horror to gain revenge upon John the Baptist. Scripture gives us both exemplars and cautionary tales of motherhood.
Before moving on from the gospels, McNeels considers the metaphors of motherhood associated with Jesus. He speaks of himself as a mother hen. There are allusions to Proverbs Mother Wisdom in his call for people to come to him in Matthew 11:28-30 and he is the logos. Likewise, Jesus uses the imagery of birth to describe the new life he brings. When Jesus speaks of rivers of living water springing from him, the word Jesus uses, koilia, can mean either stomach or womb. Water and blood flow from his side as he gives birth to the church.
Acts is dealt with briefly, because the only references are to Mary, the mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of John Mark, and the unnamed mother of Timothy. McNeel sees Acts as an interlude in the story of mothers, to become more prominent in the early church. In the undisputed letters of Paul, McNeel finds actual mothers sidelined. Women are co-workers in the gospel mission, playing prominent roles in many situations. But we don’t learn if they were mothers.. However, she observes Paul using a number of metaphors of motherhood. He uses birth pang imagery for the end times and speaks of creation groaning as if in labor. Then he speaks of his own birth and apostleship as untimely. He describes himself tenderly as a nursing mother with the Thessalonians. But he chides the Corinthians for needing milk rather than solid food.
McNeel treats the controversial material material in the pastorals as part of the non-authentic Pauline letters, written at a later time, reflecting the transitional issues facing the church. Meanwhile she notes the commending of Lois, Eunice, and others. She addresses different options for understanding women being saved through childhood, acknowledging problems with all but opting for a straightforward reading of the text, albeit not in individual terms.
McNeel treats Hebrews and the general epistles together, focusing on the faith of Sarah, Rahab, and unnamed mothers. Revelation presents us with the contrast of the virgin and the whore, which may smack of patriarchal norms. Yet Revelation anticipates a new creation where all oppression ends.
The concluding chapter summarizes themes running through this study: new life, suffering, identity, caregiving, and influence. Not only are mothers important in the biblical story, but motherhood images are at the heart of the gospel. This challenges us to combat androcentrism in biblical interpretation.
While I might take issue with some of the author’s ideas about Pauline authorship, overall I deeply appreciated the approach to the study of mothers which foregrounded these women in a helpful way for me. The fact that many women are nameless, in comparison to men, is disturbing. It reminds me that while scripture is both inspired and authoritative, it is also a human document. As a male reader, this book challenges me to notice the portrayals of women. It challenges me to question but also to appreciate. Particularly as a Protestant, we give Mary short shrift. It was illuminating to consider her as the childhood teacher of Jesus. And it was a gift to think of the motherhood images of Jesus, to be “under her wings,” as it were.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Summary: For those wondering if God can be trusted, a study of the story of God’s intimate understanding of suffering.
I was in an Old Testament workshop with Dr. Stephen Hayner, former president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He introduced the workshop stating that the main question the Old Testament, indeed all of scripture addressed was “Is God good and can we trust him?” There are good reasons many wonder if this is so both in what they see in the world around them and what they’ve experienced in their own lives. Jared Ayers has wrestled with this question personally. But what really brought the thoughts together that form this book were discussions with Daniel, a coffee-shop regular who found out he was a minister, and asked him about his sermon each week.
At the heart of those conversations was a walk through the Christian story. He begins with our deep longing for home and the sense that we are exiles. This is a reflection of how we turned our backs on a loving Creator, who then comes and asks, “Where are you? From here, he explores the currents of our contemporary life. We both rail against God for the rotten shape of the world, yet have to figure out where our sense of justice comes from. Quoting David Bazan, he says, we’ve “killed the captain, but…can still hear his voice.”
So, who is this voice? Ayers takes us back to God’s self-disclosure as I Am, YHWH. He makes the world in love, sticks with Abraham and his descendants, though they make a mess, and reveals himself in Jesus. At the heart of it all is love. Yet we are “miserable offenders,” and much of the mess of the world is one we’ve made. It’s beneath the floorboards of all our lives. Ultimately, God’s solution is to become one of us, “Incarno,” that is, “in flesh/meat.” God stoops to serve, enters into our suffering, and unjustly dies. This is the God with scars who may be trusted.
In succeeding chapters Ayers works out the significance of this identification with human suffering. And he offers reasons why we may believe the victory of the resurrection over suffering and death. Then there is the community formed by his Spirit, with all the messiness that needs perpetual reforming. He concludes with our hope of the return of Christ and how that affords hope for today.
Along the way, Ayers weaves his own story, references to contemporary film, art, music, and literature into a fresh re-telling of the Christian story. He leaves us with questions for reflection after each chapter. Not only does he not blink at the horrid realities of our world. He also shows us a God who didn’t blink but became one of us. God intimately acquainted himself with our condition. And he acted powerfully to show us another life is possible. This is a good book for doubters and skeptics, something all of us are in our most honest moments.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Answering God, Eugene H. Peterson. Harper One (ISBN: 9780060665128) 1991.
Summary: Contends that the Psalms, explored here, are necessary instruction in prayer, understood as answering the God who addresses us.
It is not uncommon, when the questioned “How do I pray?” to say something like, “Just talk to God, expressing honestly what is on your heart.” Eugene H. Peterson, while not saying this is wrong, believes there is a lot more to prayer and praying. First of all, he proposes that praying is a tool. He believes that it is at the center of our being human. More than that, he proposes that prayer is a tool by which God works his will in us and by which we collaborate with that work. For Peterson, the Psalms are our necessary toolbox to train us in how to pray. So it has been throughout church history.
Peterson makes one more startling claim. We think prayer is about talking to God. Rather, he believes the Psalms are about answering God. Instead of our seeking God, God comes to us and speaks amidst our sin, our despair, or even our gratitude. The Psalms coach us in answering God, leading us into true conversation with God.
Before taking us through several Psalms that answer God in various ways, Peterson addresses some basic realities about the Psalms. They are not only texts, they are prayers written as poetry. As such, they take us into the depths of both God and ourselves, giving voice to the inchoate. They are not primarily about understanding ourselves. Rather, they are about addressing the one God who has everything to do with our lives. Furthermore, they are embedded in a canon of sixty-six books, part of a larger story of the People of God. Finally, although we often pray on our own, these are prayers of a community. When we pray these, we are praying with others, across the world and across the centuries.
Peterson begins at the beginning, with the “pre-prayers” of Psalms 1 and 2. Psalm 1 emphasizes meditation on Torah as the roots of our life, our prayers. Psalm 2 then leads us into adoration of the Lord and his Anointed, his Messiah, contrasted with the rulers of this world. Then as he unfolds Psalm 3, Peterson focuses on language. He contends language takes three forms, I being the language of intimacy and relationship, II the language of information, and III, the language of motivation. The Psalms are about Language I. Psalm 3 illustrates this with its cry against enemies, its expression of trust, its cry for salvation. No abstractions here but rather the language of urgent and intimate relationship.
In the following chapter, Peterson reminds us of how Psalms are set in a story–the David story, the bigger story of Israel, and ultimately a story of which we are a part. Both poetry and life have rhythms. Peterson observes for us the rhythms of evening and morning in Psalms 4 and 5. Psalm 4 begins the day in the evening and our rest in God’s care, followed by Psalm 5, with our rising in the morning to God’s work for us in the day. Then Peterson jumps to Psalm 18, observing how God teaches us to pray by metaphor. God is strength, rock, fortress, deliverer, shield, horn, and stronghold. Prayer is not gnostic. God is described but not idolized in material terms, not in spiritual abstractions.
As noted earlier, the Psalms imply a praying community. Peterson notes the liturgical notations in many Psalms. When we pray in community, we recognize that the one who summoned us is in charge. The Psalms are liturgy, but this hardly means bland as we speak the sharp-edged expressions of desperation, repentance, longing, and wonder. Then Peterson turns to the most sharp-edged psalm many of us would excise if we could, Psalm 137, with its dashing of little ones against rocks. The focus is on enemies, and Peterson argues we need to pray our hatred of our enemies before we get to the place of loving them. So this is a Psalm we desperately need.
The Psalms are about memory. We remember our creation, our implication in sin, the country of salvation. Hence, the Psalms give coherence to the disparate aspects of our lives. Finally, the Psalms end in an effusion of praise. We are thus reminded that the end of prayer, the end of life, and indeed, our destiny is the praise of God.
Thus, Peterson sums up the Psalms in ten words: Text, Way, Language, Story, Rhythm, Metaphor, Liturgy, Enemies, Memory, and End. I found that in the concision of these words and the chapters a clear scaffold on which to hang my praying of the Psalms. Peterson not only makes sense of the Psalms without a psalm-by-psalm commentary. He also gives us a primer on Christian prayer, both its purpose, and our primary instructional text. And in introducing the Psalms as the church’s prayer book, he invites us to rise from our merely personal and often idiosyncratic prayers, to pray with both ancient Israel and the church across the centuries.
It has been a cold and snowy January here in central Ohio. So I am hibernating in my book fort (at least figuratively!). One result is the twenty-one reviews that appear here. There are some oldies. one title published in 2026, and a number from last year. Finally, I discovered the scholarship of Dale Allison, Jr in a collection of essays on Jesus. I’ve mentioned the discovery of Catholic theologian Gerhard Lohfink. Two of his books appear here in reviews.
I began the year reviewing a marvelous book on economics from a historical Christian perspective. Then I was inspired by by a memoir of a high school dropout who went on to earn five degrees including a doctorate. I read the first book in my Jane Austen challenge. And I enjoyed two very different books on Ohio towns–Ripley and Urbana. There’s more I could say about other books, but I know you want to see the reviews!
The Reviews
Faithful Exchange, David W. Opderbeck. Fortress Press (ISBN: 9781506467016) 2025. Economic life through biblical and historic lenses with attention to current debates on capitalism versus socialism. Review
Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen. Penguin Classics (ISBN: 9780141439662) 2003 (first published in 1811). Austen’s first novel, contrasting two sisters’ approach to love: common sense judgment versus more emotional sympathy. Review
Prayer Takes Us Home, Gerhard Lohfink, Translated by Linda M. Maloney. Liturgical Press (ISBN: 9780814688069) 2020. What Christians believe about prayer and the various ways Christians pray and experience God in prayer. Review
Nailing It, Nicole Massie Martin (foreword by Carey Nieuwhof). InterVarsity Press (ISBN: 9781514009741) 2025. A challenge to nail “leadership as usual” to the cross, embracing Jesus’ way of suffering service, and the hope of resurrection. Review
The Study: The Inner Life of Renaissance Libraries, Andrew Hui. Princeton University Press (ISBN: 9780691243320) 2024. Traces the Renaissance study through the lives of bibliophiles, artistic portrayals, and the darker side of bibliomania. Review
Marco Polo, If You Can(Blackford Oakes, Number 4), William F. Buckley, Jr. Mysterious Press/Open Road (ISBN: 9781504018524) 2015 (first published in 1981). Blackford Oakes awaits a death sentence in the Lubyanka as a spy, part of a plot to expose a Soviet mole. Review
The Journey of God, J. D. Lyonhart. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514009246) 2025. A re-telling of the Christian story in six movements, exploring questions seekers, skeptic, and believers ask. Review
The Man Who Died Twice(Thursday Murder Club, Number 2) Richard Osman. Penguin Books (ISBN: 9781984881014) 2022. Ibrahim is badly assaulted by a teenage thug and Elizabeth’s ex-husband shows up, suspected of stealing diamonds. Review
The Reformed Pastor(Puritan Paperbacks), Richard Baxter. Banner of Truth Trust (ISBN: 9780851511917) 1974 (first published in 1656). On pastoral care, beginning with care of oneself, and then of the people, emphasizing catechesis through visitation. Review
Interpreting Jesus, Dale C. Allison Jr. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802879196) 2025. Six essays on Jesus addressing eschatology, Moses, miracles, women with Jesus, memory, and methods of attestation. Review
Beyond the River, Ann Hagedorn. Simon & Schuster. (ISBN: 9780684870663) 2004. A history of the Underground Railroad line passing through Ripley, Ohio, featuring the Rankin family and other townspeople. Review
How Did They Read the Prophets?, Michael B. Shepherd. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802885418) 2025. A study of Hebrew and Greek interpretations of the canonical prophets including Christian readings. Review
God Looks Like Jesus, Gregory A. Boyd & M. Scott Boren. Herald Press (ISBN: 9781513815510) 2025. In the life, ministry, teaching, and crucifixion of Jesus, we see the embodiment of what God is like. Review
The Common Rule Youth Edition, Justin Whitmel Early. InterVarsity Press (ISBN: 9781514010433) 2025. Eight spiritual habits or practices for teens and tweens to help them grow in their faith. Review
The Search for a Rational Faith, Daniel K Williams. Oxford University Press (ISBN: 9780197748039) 2026. Anglo-American efforts to make a reasoned defense of Christian faith amid the rise of Enlightenment reason. Review
The Emperor of All Maladies, Siddhartha Mukherjee. Scribner (ISBN: 9781668047033) 2025 (My review is of the 2010 edition). A biography of the disease, our understanding of its nature, and approaches to treating it. Review
Eden’s Clock (American Novels, Number 12), Norman Lock. Bellevue Literary Press (ISBN: 9781954276390) 2025. A widowed clocksmith commissioned to repair a clock in San Francisco experiences misadventures enroute and meets Jack London. Review
From Dropout to Doctorate, Terence Lester, PhD. InterVarsity Press (ISBN: 9781514011485) 2025. A personal memoir underscoring the structural obstacles for Blacks in poverty who aspire to advanced education. Review
Jesus and Community, Gerhard Lohfink (translated by john P. Galvin. Fortress Press (ISBN: 9780800618025) 1984. How Jesus fulfilled Israel’s call, first in the contrast society of the Twelve, and then in early Christian communities. Review
Formed to Lead, Jason Jensen. InterVarsity Press | Formatio (ISBN:9781514009901) 2025. Through reflection on Luke 1-4, proposes a vision of leadership rooted in formation of character and spiritual discernment. Review
Paper Girl, Beth Macy. Penguin Press (ISBN: 9780593656730) 2025. A memoir about growing up in Urbana, Ohio and how the town changed in ways that reflects the struggles of rural America. Review
Best Book of the Month
It took a bit of wrangling, but I was delighted to receive The Search for a Rational Faith by Daniel K. Williams. Williams does nothing less than give a historical account of efforts to offer reasons for believing the Christian faith. Not only that, he does this for the whole of American history, back to the English Puritans. He also suggests the intriguing idea that this has contributed to the relative vitality of Christian belief, particularly in comparison with Europe. Implicitly, it makes the case for the continuing importance of this work. For contemporary apologists, the account helps us to see how we stand on the shoulders of those who go before us.
Quote of the Month
David W. Opderbeck offers a scholarly but accessible overview of the history of Christian thinking about economics. In his conclusion, I thought he captures well the contours of truly Christian approach to economics:
“Freedom for generosity and freedom from the love of money and the lust of the eyes is offered in the waters of baptism and at the table with Jesus in the community of his people. Every -ism, including capitalism and socialism, is here exposed as unworthy of devotion. In every time and place discerning the Kairos and listening to the Spirit of Christ, we are called to act with grace and wisdom, affirming but relativizing private property rights, prioritizing the poor, emphasizing fairness, and actively waiting for the coming of Jesus, when God will be all-in-all” (p. 258).
What I’m Reading
My big reading project right now is Israel’s Scriptures in Early Christian Writings. It is a fairly comprehensive study of how Christians used Israel’s scriptures, collecting essays from top scholars in the field. I’ve got about 400 pages to go! I am also delighting in The First Nations Version of Psalms and Proverbs. The work of translating these texts into idioms of First Nations peoples carries a freshness, helping me see familiar texts in new ways. God, Where Are You by Dominique Young is written for especially for those who experience depression, and wonder where God is. She offers some great journaling prompts!
One of my Christmas gifts was Robert MacFarlane’s Is A River Alive. He writes luminously as he describes an expedition up the Los Cedros River in Ecuador (and two other rivers I’ve not yet gotten to). He makes the case that in worldview and law, we ought to see rivers, forests, and other natural elements as living beings with rights, particularly to their own flourishing. Finally, for fun, I’m enjoying one of those manor house mysteries with Inspector John Appleby, written by Michael Innes.
I wish you health, warmth and good books for these chilly nights (or warm nights if you live in the global south!).
The Month in Reviews is my monthly review summary going back to 2014!It’s a great way to browse what I’ve reviewed. The search box on this blog also works well if you are looking for a review of a particular book. Thanks for stopping by. and feel free to share this with others!
I asked people on my Facebook page “Do you think you appreciate poetry more as written text or when it is spoken?”. Interestingly, most preferred the written text. However, the exception was those who wrote poetry. They preferred it spoken.
Why the difference? From what I can tell, poets have a sense of the cadences, the rhythms of the lines and know better how to convey what they were trying to do. On the other hand, those who enjoy the written text like the opportunity to read the lines over and over again, to study the words, phrases, even how lines are arranged into verses.
I’ve been posting readings of poems weekly on my Facebook page. I won’t pretend to be a great reader. But I’ve had people who don’t read poetry mention that the readings might make them reconsider. But what I would say is that reading poems aloud takes me more deeply into the poem. To read well means paying attention to the sound of words, words that recur, phrasing, which doesn’t always follow the written line or even verse. Then, it means trying to discern the mood and meaning of a poem to give that expression out loud. I have learned how hard this is, sometimes recording a dozen times or more.
Of course, just as with audiobooks, a good reading is everything. One of the most memorable readings, really a performance, was the video of Michael Sheen’s rendering of “‘Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas. It’s intense and he captures the rage in “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” While reviewing it for this post, I happened to listen to several other different readings, each capturing something different.
Actually, I think both reading the written text and hearing the poetry are important. And with some longer poems, a reading may be hard to follow. Likewise, some poets arrange their text visually in ways not reproducible orally, unless simultaneously projecting the text.
All this is to say, if you struggle to get into poetry, you might try reading it aloud. Or search for someone who has read the poem. Follow along with the text. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
Five Articles Worth Reading
The articles I came across this week all seemed to explore what one might call “the big questions.” What was it about the unexamined life?
The rise of authoritarian leaders, our brave new technological world, global tensions, and our swiftly warming planet have left many with a lingering sense of existential dread. But this is not new. Livia Gershon explores philosophers and theologians who address this in “A History of Existential Anxiety.”
He was on Colbert this week and turned up on a number of book sites I follow. George Saunders new novel, Vigil is getting a lot of attention. It concerns a ghost who comes to the dying, helping them make sense of their lives and meet their deaths. Julius Taranto reviews the book in “George Saunders Brings Morality Back to Fiction.“
I spent my life as a campus minister longing for spiritual revival to break out on campuses. Recently, there have been upticks in religious activity leading some to proclaim this. Maggie Phillips notes all this and says “not so quick” in “There Is No Religious Revival.” The evidence is not that strong yet.
Finally, Charles Mathewes reviews Jonathan B. Teubner’s Charity After Augustine in “Searching for Solidarity.” The article explores Augustine’s ideas of caritas and how it might help us both understand and address the rifts in our own social fabric.
Quote of the Week
Thomas Paine was born on January 29, 1737. He observed this interesting distinction between reputation and character:
“Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.”
Miscellaneous Musings
I love the idea of being shut in during a snow storm. Except that if you own a home, you have to think about digging out. There was so much snow that it took five sessions to clear it away over a couple of days. All I wanted to do when I came in was warm up, and rest my aching muscles! I think I finally got to that reading romance on Tuesday. So all those lovely memes of curling up with a book while the snow flies–I wish!
Friday was the first day we received a regular mail delivery. But somehow, the folks from Paraclete Press got me Steven Garber’s new Hints of Hope. Steve is a good friend and a profound thinker. And I need some hope right now. Can’t wait to read it!
Just began reading Robert MacFarlane’s Is a River Alive? That is the serious question of the book and MacFarlane is an eloquent writer. For him, rivers are not an “it.”
Next Week’s Reviews
Monday: The Month in Reviews: January 2026
Tuesday: Eugene H. Peterson, Answering God
Wednesday: Jared Ayers, You Can Trust A God With Scars
Thursday: Jennifer Houston McNeel, Under Her Wings
Friday: Terry Pratchett, Mort
So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for January 25-31.
Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page.
